Christmas Snapshots
by Muggle Jane
Summary: Series of unrelated Christmasy oneshots, combining the Connect a Character and 25 Days of Christmas challenges from HPFC. Features Hannah/Neville, Neville/Luna, Luna/George, George/Hermione, Hermione/Bill
1. Hannah and Neville

**A/N: Not my characters, etc.**

**Part 1 of Christmas Snapshots, written for both 25 Days of Christmas and Connect the Characters from HPFC.**

**Pairing: Hannah/Neville, Prompt: Holiday parties  
**

Was that... crying? Neville looked up from tending his fanged geranium and cocked his head. Yes, that was definitely crying. He got up and headed out to where the stairs were. He knew Hannah was busy downstairs. The pub was closed down for the day, but she'd gotten up early to get it ready.

This was the day of the fourth annual DA Christmas party, and the first since she'd become proprietress of the Leaky Cauldron. Years past had seen the party at the Hog's Head Inn in Hogsmeade, but Aberforth always did complain about the mess afterward and Hannah had insisted that for this year, it needed to change locales.

And so, she'd risen before the sun to bake and cook and decorate and when Neville had offered to help, he'd been allowed to situate the tree, and then banished upstairs where he would be out of the way. Only now it sounded like things weren't going so well for her.

Neville came down the stairs to see Hannah sitting in a heap in the middle of the kitchen, thoroughly tangled up in garland. There was something bubbling over on the stove, smoke coming from the oven, and a box of Christmas baubles was smashed on the floor. And Hannah was the source of the crying.

He went to her and gently unwound her from her predicament. "What do you need?" he asked kindly, brushing a tear off her cheek with his thumb.

"It's no good!" Hannah wailed, looking up at him with watery eyes, red and swollen from crying. "I can't do it! The gingerbread is burned, the mulled wine is useless and I think I knocked the tree over!"

"There now, sweetheart," he soothed, pulling her head against his shoulder and stroking her blond hair. "Why don't you go upstairs and sit down and I'll sort this all out."

"I can't!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around him. "There's still so much to do!"

"Just take a break," he pressed, kissing the top of her silky hair. "Just take a minute, sit down, have a cup of spiced mead. I'll clean this up and then we'll do it together."

He stood up, drawing her up with him. "Just a moment." He got a cup and filled it with some of her own delicious spiced mead and pressed it in her hand. "There, now. Go sit upstairs and drink this." He had to gently propel her by her shoulders over to the stairs, but she finally went up and sat down on one of the stuffed chairs. She tucked her feet up under her and started drinking the mead.

Neville was right, she told herself. Sitting away from everything and having a drink helped. She hadn't really eaten that morning and she'd been up for far too long and she was just wearing down. A sandwich. A sandwich and then she could get back to it.

Were those voices? But no one was supposed to be there until 7:00. She'd definitely specified 7:00 on all the invitations. Frowning, Hannah picked up the now-empty mug and went back downstairs, determined to figure out what was going on.

As she looked into the kitchen, what she saw made her stop suddenly. There was an unmistakable red-haired witch cleaning up the shards from the Christmas baubles. And there was a mane of bushy brown hair floating through the room just before a long strand of garland. "What's going on?"

Neville heard her and emerged from the dining room, where he'd been trimming the tree. "I called for help, sweetheart."

"Just tell us what to do," Hermione said firmly, stopping in front of her with the garland extending in the air behind her like a giant red and green snake.

"When Mum throws a big party, she makes the whole family help out," Ginny added. "It's just too much for one person to do alone."

Hannah put her mug down on the bench and went over to wrap her arms around her husband. "Thank you," she murmured to him.

"Anything for you, sweetheart."

At Hannah's direction, the four of them got the pub ready. Halls were decked, wine was mulled, all manner of food was cooked to perfection.

By 7:00, people were already starting to trickle in. By 7:30, the Leaky Cauldron was full. Former DA members and friends and family milled around, laughing, chatting, dancing.

And Hannah Longbottom looked over the room from behind the bar, a proud smile on her face. She'd done it. She'd thrown a party to be proud of.

Neville came up behind her, putting his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulders. "I won't tell Mrs. Weasley, but I think you put on the best parties I've ever been to."

She turned her head and their lips met just as a rogue firework exploded overhead.


	2. Luna and Neville

**A/N: Changed the rating to T because Luna got a little frisky on me.**

**Part 2 of Christmas Snapshots, written for both 25 Days of Christmas and Connect the Characters from HPFC.**

**Pairing: Luna/Neville, Prompt: Sledding**

"Luna?" Neville asked, rubbing his eyes like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"Hello Neville. It's just past midnight," the blond girl answered pleasantly. "I need your help."

The wizard lowered his wand and took another swipe at his sleep-crusted eyes. This wasn't an unusual occurrence, Luna just showed up sometimes. Of course, normally it was during the daylight hours. "What do you need?"

"Help, of course, I just said as much." She peered at him for a moment. "You'll need clothes, Neville, and a warm cloak."

He yawned widely, considering the merits of asking her to come back in the morning. The actual morning, when the sun was up. "Come in, I'll be just a minute," he found himself saying.

She stepped through the door, her gray eyes dancing in the light from her wand. "You have very nice pajamas."

Neville glanced down at his green-and-red striped pajamas. "I'll be right back." He went into his bedroom and, with a look of longing for the warm softness of his bed, got dressed. When he came back out, Luna was holding a peppermint stick in one hand, her wand still lit in the other.

"Oh, hello," she greeted like she hadn't been expecting him.

"What are we doing?" It was hard for Neville to keep the sleep-deprived irritation out of his voice.

"We're going sledding," came the airy answer before Luna pulled open the door and admitted them out into the snow.

"Sledding?" He couldn't believe his ears. "At midnight?"

"Just past midnight. Closer to one, I think."

He didn't know how to react to that, other than to follow her. She held her wand before her and the light caught and reflected on the millions of collected snowflakes that covered the ground. "Do you even have a sled?"

"I don't," she admitted. "That's why you're here."

Sledding. With no sled. At 'closer to one' in the morning. "Can't this wait until morning?" he groaned.

She stopped and turned back to look at him, head cocked to the side. And then she burst into laughter, the high sound somewhat swallowed by the snow. "Oh, Neville. You're always so funny! It is morning!" She turned back and continued her trek.

The snow wasn't very deep, just up to their ankles. But it was slippery, and Neville was finding it hard to keep up with her pace and keep to his feet. And then his foot went the wrong way on a patch of particularly icy snow and he fell. On instinct, he grabbed her cloak and he plummeted forward and she came crashing down beside him.

"Sorry, Luna," he muttered, rising up from his rather undignified position sprawled on his front.

"That's alright," she replied brightly, springing to her feet with an uncanny agility. "You're getting started a little early, though. We can go slower if you'd like."

"Yeah, that'd be good." He took the hand she held out to him and used it to steady himself as he got to his feet. They started walking again, slower this time. "Where are we going?"

They'd walked a little way out of Hogsmeade by this point, where Neville had taken over Dogweed and Deathcap, far enough away that they could no longer smell the smoke that rose up from cozy fires all over the village.

Luna stopped suddenly and Neville almost fell again. "Here, I think."

Neville looked around. They looked to be on one of the flat, grassy plains that surrounded Hogsmeade, albeit covered in snow. "How are we going to go sledding out here?"

Luna took a small, flat piece of wood out of the pocket of her cloak and put it on the ground. Her gray eyes shifted to him and she seemed to be waiting for him to do something.

"That's a little small for a sled," he said after a while.

"Yes! That's why I needed you, you see." She gestured to the piece of wood with her wand.

"What do you want me to do with it?" he asked after a minute.

"Make it into a sled, of course! You were an auror and aurors have to be good at transfiguration."

He peered doubtfully at the small bit of wood. "I'm a bit rubbish at transfiguration, actually," he admitted after a moment.

"Oh, well that changes things! I guess we won't be able to go sledding after all." She looked so disappointed, so forlorn that Neville found himself wanting to apologize to her. She stooped and picked up the piece of wood, sliding it back into her pocket. "I asked Ron, but Hermione got quite cross with me. And Harry said that I'm not allowed there anymore unless the sun is out, and I don't personally know where any other aurors live."

"It's freezing out here. Why don't we get back inside and I'll make you some hot cocoa?" He was surprised to hear that coming out of his mouth. He desperately wanted to get back into bed. If he was lucky, really lucky, maybe there would still be some of the heat left from his body.

"Alright, Neville." She took his hand in hers, and he could feel the warmth from it even through his gloves and her woolen mittens. Together, they walked back through the trail they'd made in the snow toward the village.

He opened the door to let them into his house and light some of the lights. The fire was still smoldering in the fireplace and he stoked it a little higher. "You sit down, I'll be just a minute."

He was almost to the door when her soft voice stopped him. "Do you have any pajamas I could borrow?"

He turned towards the slight witch, incredulous. "What?"

"Pajamas. There's nothing better than hot cocoa by the fire in pajamas, but I didn't happen to bring any with me." She was looking at him expectantly again, her large eyes wide and imploring.

"Yes?" He blinked at her for a moment. "Yes, I do. Just half a second." The blond wizard passed through into his bedroom again and pulled a clean pair of pajamas from a drawer. He went back out and handed them to her and then went into the kitchen, wondering if he wasn't perhaps dreaming.

When he emerged with a mug of cocoa in each hand, he was so surprised he almost dropped them. Luna was standing in front of the fire in the white-and-blue striped pajama shirt, the golden light from the fire gleaming off of her bare legs. She turned and smiled at him. "Thank you! The trousers were just hopeless but the shirt is almost like a nightdress." She'd rolled up the sleeves so that her hands stuck out properly, and she came and took one of the mugs from him. "This smells wonderful."

They sat together in the light from the fire, drinking their hot cocoa. When the pretty witch had finished her cocoa and set the mug on the end table beside her, Neville blurted out, "You should stay here." And then immediately wished he could crawl under the sofa and hide. "It's late and dark and..." Hiding under the sofa sounded really appealing.

"Oh, that's very kind. Thank you!" She got up and went into the bedroom. He stared after her for a moment in silence before standing up and following her. She was already nestled in between his soft white sheets, her head on his pillow.

"I'll sleep out there, then?" He'd asked for it, really.

"Don't be silly, it's your bed. There's plenty of room for the both of us."

He stared at her for a moment. "But I don't have my pajamas on."

"You could go get them on."

Right, he thought. As simple as that. He picked up the discarded nightclothes and took them into the next room and quickly changed. When he went back into his bedroom, Luna was lying on her back, her blond hair spread across the pillow like a golden wave. After another moment of staring, he lifted up the side of the bedcovers and slipped in next to her.

"There, see?" she asked, looking over at him. "Plenty of room." She seemed to take in the way he was awkwardly perched on the edge of the bed, precariously trying to keep himself from touching her. "More room, I think, if you come over here and put your arms around me."

"Put my..." He trailed off. This had to be a dream.

"Arms around me, that's right. It'll be warmer too, it'll get quite chilly when the fire goes out." Stunned, he did as he was bade. When his arm slid around her waist, she shifted until she was on her side with her back pressed up against his chest. "Goodnight, Neville."

"Goodnight, Luna," he replied, entirely bewildered. He didn't know how he would ever get to sleep, but it didn't take long at all before darkness claimed him.

He awoke to the smell of strawberries and peppermint, and when he opened his eyes, Luna was gazing at him. "Good morning, Neville."

"Morning, Luna." Not a dream then. She was still there, her hands clasped on his shoulder, resting her chin on her hands and peering at him with those big, gray eyes.

"Do you want to kiss me?"

"What, me?" His mind was struggling to wake up. Maybe he was still dreaming, after all.

"Yes, you. Do you want to?"

He bent his head up and kissed her gently. "Like that?"

"Like that. Or like this." She leaned forward and kissed him with a dizzying thoroughness, her tongue darting into his mouth to meet his.

Like much of what had occurred since 'closer to one' that morning, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but in due course he found himself settled on top of her, all of their nightclothes gone. She was drawing him in towards her with her slim legs wrapped around his hips, her fingers digging into his shoulders and her lips moving eagerly under his. They came together in the chill winter morning, and afterward Luna lay contentedly in the circle of his arms. "We should go sledding more often."


	3. Luna and George

**A/N: So this got sad.**

**Part 3 of Christmas Snapshots, written for both 25 Days of Christmas and Connect the Characters from HPFC.**

**Pairing: Luna/George, Prompt: family**

George jumped, visibly startled, when a small pale hand slid on top of his, where it was wrapped around his knee. He was sitting on the stairs in the middle of the darkened, empty shop; his knees drawn up to his chest, lost to memories. "Luna? How'd you get in?"

"Through the door," she replied. She sat down on the step next to him. "It wasn't locked. Your mum was wondering where you'd gotten to."

It was Christmas Eve. Usually, Christmas Eve was spent staying up late in the living room of the Burrow, drinking spiked Christmas punch and enjoying being with family. This year, though... "I'm not going."

"I know," Luna replied. "That's why I'm here. Someone else might have insisted on you going back with them." She settled in, her hands tucked between her knees in deference to the cold.

It was a little chilly in the shop, George noticed suddenly. It was fully dark now. He'd closed early for the day and had meant to go up to his flat, but on the way up the stairs he'd seen the display of Skiving Snackboxes, and he'd remembered dreaming those up with Fred. He'd remembered the carefree days of Hogwarts, when his twin- his other half- had still been alive. And now it was dark, and his stomach was reminding him that he'd missed lunch and it had probably passed on to dinner time.

And Luna was still sitting on the stairs beside him. "Why are you still here, then? Don't you have carols to sing?" He immediately regretted snapping at her, but he let the questions stand between them like an angry barrier.

"Christmas time is one of the hardest times," came her high, soft voice, unaffected by his sudden hostility. "Do you remember when my mum died?"

He remembered.

_It was Boxing Day. He and Fred were flying around the orchard on their new second-hand brooms, practicing for Quidditch, when they realized that the small blond girl sitting against the fence to the back garden was watching them._

_"Is that Luna?" Fred asked, peering down at her._

_"Looks like," George answered. "Why isn't she smiling?"_

_They'd known Luna since they were all small, playing together in the trees between their houses. She was a carefree girl, always with a smile of wonderment on her face. And there she was, very definitely not smiling._

"Yeah," George replied.

"I was very sad, and you and Fred looked after me. You took me on broom rides and kept me away from your mum and Percy, and joked and pulled fun. You were trying to get me to smile."

He nodded. "Didn't... Didn't Fred kiss you?"

_"Alright, Georgie, I'm going to kiss her," Fred bravely declared._

_"You're what?" George asked in disbelief._

_"Girls like kissing, right? So I'm going to kiss her, see if that doesn't make her smile. You watch out for Mum." And, with George watching out for their mother, Fred had taken her by the shoulders and kissed her gently. And she had smiled, a tender, sad sort of smile. But it was a smile._

"He did," Luna replied. "That was my first kiss. That's how I remember Fred; shy and brave and tender and dear."

"Does it ever stop hurting?" George asked after a time, his question barely a whisper.

"No. It does get easier, after a time. But Christmas is always hard. That's why I'm here, you see. I'm afraid I'm not terribly funny, but I can kiss you, just the way he kissed me."

"Luna..." Her name slipped from his mouth and hung between them like a heavy weight. He turned to look at her, just in time to see her blond head closing to his. Her lips brushed against his, soft and gentle, and the corners of his mouth turned up, despite himself.

"There, you see?" She wore the same sad smile she had all those years ago on Boxing Day, a sorrowful smile that mirrored his own. "Now you're smiling, too."


	4. Hermione and George

**A/N: Set the year after "Not the Right Weasley.**

**Part 4 of Christmas Snapshots, written for both 25 Days of Christmas and Connect the Characters from HPFC.**

**Pairing: George/Hermione, Prompt: Snowflakes**

It was snowing again, fat snowflakes that drifted down lazily to the ground. I was standing before the window and watching them fall to the white-dusted street below. I heard quiet footsteps behind me and then a study arm slipped securely about my waist, pulling me back flush against a familiar solid body. A chin rested gently on my shoulder and, out of the corner of my eye, I could see a shock of red hair and a flash of a brown eye. I had to smile.

"You always do love it when it snows, don't you?" he asked.

I nodded gently, then leaned my head against his. "I love the hush that everything gets. And it feels like it's just us, cut off from the world together."

"You're not changing your mind about going, then?" he teased.

"I have a very strong suspicion that it's going to be a lot of, 'You two don't have any big announcements, do you?' and, 'Lovely Victoire, I hope she gets some cousins soon!' and the like."

"On the plus side, you're not going to have a running commentary on exactly how brilliant Charlie is this year."

I shifted to look at him, his eyes so close to mine. "You mean... You're not Charlie?" I asked seriously. "You've been fooling me all this time!"

"Is that a sense of humor?" he returned. "You never should have moved in, Mione, I'm rubbing off on you."

"I have a sense of humor!" I protested.

"Where is it, then? Is it in here?" His arm tightened around my waist and the fingers of his other hand started dancing between my ribs.

"George!" I shrieked as I slumped over, laughing, my hands pushing weakly against his. We ended up in a breathless heap on the floor. I pulled myself into a sitting position and leaned over to give him a kiss. "I suppose we should get going soon, or your Mum is going to send someone after us."

"Hang on, I have something for you." He pushed up off the floor and walked away from the living room window. I was curious. We'd already exchanged gifts when we'd woken up that morning and he'd given me a thin bracelet in addition to the books I'd wanted. I heard him go down the stairs into the shop and it was a couple of minutes before he came back up, holding a small green-wrapped package in front of him.

I eyed it dubiously. Even as his girlfriend I wasn't immune to his pranks, but a glance at his face showed an absolutely sincere smile, with no trace of the mischief that usually preceded his practical jokes. I took it gently like I expected it to explode. It didn't, though, and I gingerly unwrapped it.

It was a sturdy box made of dark wood, and I opened it and drew the object out. "It's a snowglobe!" I exclaimed, wondering where he'd gotten a snowglobe. My parents had some, but they were strictly a muggle item and I'd never seen them in a wizarding home.

"Not quite, look closer." He sounded quite proud of himself.

At his urging, I pulled the clear glass ball up near my eyes and looked into it. It was snowing tiny white flakes without having to shake it. There was a miniature replica of The Burrow, and just outside the gate to the garden were a tiny red-haired man and a tiny woman with a thick mane of brown hair. As I watched, the tiny man lifted the tiny woman's hand to his mouth and kissed it and then he vanished and, after a second, so did she. Another second later, they came out of The Burrow and paused just outside the gate and the scene repeated.

I stood up and launched myself at him, wrapping my arms tightly around my neck. My throat was constricted with unshed happy tears.

"I take it you like it, then?" he teased gently, his own arms going behind my back, holding me closely to him.

"I love it!" I breathed when I could talk again. The scene in the snowglobe was exactly what had happened a year ago, the very first time he'd kissed me.

"You mentioned something about snowglobes last year and I did some research."

I pushed back and looked up into his face. I could still feel my eyes brimming with joyful moisture. "You did research? Maybe I'm rubbing off on you."

He leaned forward and gave me a gentle kiss. "I hope so, Mione."


	5. Hermione and Bill

**A/N: Part 5 of Christmas Snapshots, written for both 25 Days of Christmas and Connect the Characters from HPFC.**

**Pairing: Hermione/Bill, Prompt: Gifts**

"Well, that was lovely. Thank you for lunch." I gave my hands one final wipe on my napkin and tossed it on my empty plate. I was completely full to the point of stuffed. We were at the Leaky Cauldron for lunch and Hannah was an excellent cook.

My lunch companion, a pale blond with big gray eyes, checked her very muggle wristwatch. "It's not time to go back yet, I'm afraid."

I looked from her face to her plate, and then back again. "We're both done." I tried not to be irritated. I got irritated so easily lately, but Luna hadn't really done anything wrong.

"This is true, but _they're_ not done with your surprise yet, so we can't go back yet." She looked at me in a patiently expectant way, so very Luna.

"I'm getting a surprise?" I stared at her for a moment, but her clear eyes gave nothing away.

"Of course you are," she replied, as though it was the most obvious thing ever. "It's Christmas, isn't it? Christmas is the best time for surprises."

I narrowed my eyes as I regarded her. "I know what George thinks are surprises..." I started. I wasn't up for being a test subject. My day was going poorly enough without unfortunate bruises or rashes.

"Nothing like that, Hermione," she said, shaking her head. Was that a tone of censure in her voice? "A good surprise. A Christmas surprise."

I sighed. "I don't know that I'm really up for surprises at all. I know I'm not supposed to be letting it bother me, but I'm actually pretty upset that I'm going to miss Christmas with Bill." He'd said he'd be able to make it back for New Year's, which was really only just over a week away. But there was something just _so_ entirely depressing about the idea of going to The Burrow and seeing Ginny and Harry, and George and Luna, and Ron and whoever he was seeing for the next month and a half or so until that fell apart as all of his relationships inevitably did; especially when my own boyfriend was halfway around the world. Not that I was bitter or anything. International travel is tricky needs to be planned out and coordinated and there was apparently literally no way he could get back to England before the 30th.

"You'll get to see him soon. And I think your surprise will really cheer you up," she said brightly. She always sounded pleasant about everything.

"I can't sit here and do nothing for however long it's going to take," I said, and immediately regretted how cross I sounded. "I'm sorry, I just mean... I need to get up and do something."

"Oh, we can certainly do something!" she agreed. "What sort of something would you like to do?"

"The... bookstore?" If there was one place that was going to make me feel better, it was the bookstore.

She skipped along beside me as we went into the bookstore and then we split up and I lost myself amongst the shelves. My friends were trying to distract me and it was really nice. Luna had offered to take me out for lunch. The day before, Ginny had gone shopping with me. The day before that, Harry had stopped by and helped me with the tree. I had the week off for the Christmas holidays, thank you Ministry of Magic, and my friends were doing their best to make sure I wasn't dwelling on Bill's absence too much.

And, of course, George had this surprise planned. Whatever it was.

I picked out what I wanted and started looking around for Luna. She was a very distinctive person, especially in the bright orange dress she was wearing, but I couldn't find her at all. I stepped up to the register to pay for my new books. "Luna Lovegood, did she leave?" I asked the young lady behind the counter.

"Yes," came the answer.

I walked out with my two new purchases, frowning a little. It wasn't like Luna to just abandon me like that when we were out together. I walked quickly down the street to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, a little worried and hoping that everything was ok.

The tall redhead at the counter with his back to me was definitely _not_ George. "Bill?" I breathed in disbelief. There was no mistaking the ponytail and the fang earring dangling from his ear. But he'd told me that there was no way he could get away.

He turned toward me and I ran to him, letting the books drop carelessly to the floor before launching myself at him. His arms came around my back, holding me up, and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist. "Hi there," he greeted.

"You said..." I trailed off, burying my face in his shoulder.

"A certain brother-in-law threw his famous name around to arrange a way for me to come home, as a gift to us." I felt his lips on my hair.

I lifted my head out of his shoulder and our lips met with a sort of desperation. "Hey now!" George broke in and Bill pulled back, a wolfish grin on his face. "This is a family shop, we won't have any of that here!"

"Just a hello kiss," Bill protested, and I unwound my limbs from around him and let him set me gently on my feet.

"Yeah, I've seen what happens to poor Granger's neck when you just say hello," George teased.

I ducked my head into Bill's chest to hide the hot rush of color that I felt in my cheeks. "We should probably... go..." I murmured.

"Absolutely excellent idea. See you later, little brother. Bye, Luna."

I had just enough time to glance over and see Luna smiling benevolently with her hand on George's shoulder before everything twisted around me and then I was standing in our small front garden.

In a moment, we were inside, lips locked together and hands frantically removing each other's clothing. Before I really realized it, we were upstairs and in Bill's bed, doing our very best to make up for lost time.

Afterward, we were snuggled up together under the blankets, me laying on my side with my head on his arm and my arm draped lazily across his chest. "We are going to have to find something better to give Harry," I murmured, and Bill chuckled.


End file.
